Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
“It doesn’t but thank you for telling me that. And thank you for rescuing me tonight. Anything could have happened to me.” She shook her head, still trying to understand her night. “I still have sixty bucks in cash which means I only had a couple of drinks.”
“Booze hits people in different ways on different days.” Some days the booze turned my old man into the funniest most charming guy who ever walked the Earth, but most days he was meaner than a junkyard dog with a hangnail.
“I don’t drink to excess. Ever.” She shook her head again, still trying to piece together how she ended up here and as much as I wanted her to have peace, I needed her to forget.
“Your license says it’s your birthday. Happy Birthday.”
“Thanks,” she sighed and leaned back into the seat. “You don’t strike me as a Porsche kind of guy,” she said after a few more minutes of silence.
“Yeah? What kind of guy do I seem like?” I’d bet big money she would say a pickup truck because that was just too easy.
“Honestly, you look like the type who likes to tear it up off-road with lots of mud and bumps, but this is Glitz so I’d have to say something big and luxurious. A Tesla or even an Audi if you’re stuck in the last decade.”
A girl who looked like she did and knew cars? I had to be dreaming. “Something wrong with an Audi?”
“Other than the fact that it’s not electric? Nothing at all.” Her smugness on the topic told me the one thing I hadn’t figured out for myself.
“You’re a college girl.” It wasn’t a question. I knew that self-righteous tone. I’d heard it well before I learned the hard way to stay away from girls who were on a four-year visa to Glitz.
“I am,” she said with a heavy sigh. “Almost a college graduate if you can believe that.”
“Aren’t most people excited about finishing college and getting out in the real world?” Maybe she was one of those rich girls who was being forced to get a job or a husband. That still happened didn’t it?
“I am excited, mostly. I went to college so I could help out my brother back in Opey, but honestly, I don’t know if I want to do that now. And I have like two weeks to figure it out.” Maisie shook her head and turned to me with a smile, pointing out which way I should turn before she spoke again. “Sorry. Why is it so much easier to talk to strangers about this stuff?”
“I don’t see any strangers around here.”
That pulled an expected laugh from her and hell, the sound was deep and husky, like she was always in a heightened state of arousal.
“Okay, virtual strangers then. Now you have to tell me a secret. Go.”
I could feel the weight of her stare on my face, the expectations pushed down on my shoulders, and I squirmed behind the wheel. I had plenty of secrets. Secrets weren’t the problem. Which particular secret to share with a virtual stranger was.
I couldn’t tell her about the Ashby family, not now that I knew she was a temporary local who’d probably heard all the rumors—true and false—about my family. About me. I let out a breath and blurt it out. “I’m afraid of turning out like my old man.”
The words hung in the air, the silence folded in around them and I thought she wouldn’t say anything in response.
“That woman was your mother, right?”
“Yeah? Why?”
Maisie barked out a laugh. “I don’t know your old man, or even know of him, but that woman back there would likely kill you herself before letting you turn out like him if he’s that bad.” She looked at me with sympathy. “Sorry if your childhood sucked. I had a crazy one myself.”
I liked that she didn’t immediately assume I was overreacting or that my old man was a decent guy. It made her seem more real, more than just a beautiful woman I’d met because of the biggest mistake of my life. “Maybe so, but it is what it is.”
“I don’t even know my father. Not his name or what he even looks like. Don’t remember my mom, either, because she died when I was a baby. My brother took care of me.”
“Damn, I’m sorry to hear that Maisie from Texas.”
Her smile was softer this time, sweeter too. “Thank you, Virgil from Glitz. My life is good. I have an amazing big brother and more aunts and uncles than anyone could ever need. My point is…who knows what DNA or genes I’m carrying around of my dad’s. At least you know who your father is.”
“Was.”
“Oh, sorry to hear that.” Maisie looked at me with sympathy on her face.
“No worries,” I grunted, thinking of all the destruction and damage left in his wake. “Knowing who he was just means worrying over shit I can’t change.”